China Mobile and Ericsson have successfully completed LTE-Advanced TDD trial in the 3.5 GHz band in China

Tue, Mar 03, 2015 09:30 CET

China Mobile and Ericsson have successfully used the 3.4-3.6 GHz (3.5 GHz) frequency band for testing data speeds, mobility and TDD carrier aggregation. This LTE-Advanced TDD trial, which was jointly carried out in January 2015 in China, is using Ericsson's equipment.

The first phase of the trials was performed at Ericsson's lab in Beijing. Speeds of DL 223 Mbps were achieved by using carrier aggregation (20 MHz@3.5 GHz band and 20 MHz@2.6 GHz band), thereby confirming the potential of 3.5 GHz TDD technology to increase mobile broadband capacity. Handover was also successfully performed during the testing, thus confirming the mobility capability and potential performance credibility. The second phase is the field trial which has been carried out in February 2015 using China Mobile's live mobile network and based on Ericsson's TDD 3.5 GHz radio equipment.

3.5 GHz: an important band to meet the mobile internet traffic growth3.5 GHz provides 200 MHz of spectrum and addresses more than 50% of TDD licensees. With the maturing ecosystem, 3.5 GHz has been recognized as a potential global harmonized band for TDD and will play a key role in meeting the traffic demands for the future and improving the user experience. Japan has recently assigned 3.5 GHz (late 2014), and expect to deploy a commercial LTE-Advanced TDD network in 2016 in this band.

"This TDD testing demonstrated that the 3.5 GHz band can be successfully used both in stand-alone mode and in aggregation with existing commercial spectrum band to provide advanced mobile broadband services using a TDD access scheme for high peak data rate applications to enhance the user experience and operator's competitiveness," says Dr. Guangyi Liu, CTO of Wireless Department of China Mobile Research Institute.

This project has provided an opportunity to gather essential experience on the ways that future multi-frequency networks could be optimized from cost and performance perspectives. One of the most rewarding results of the first step of this trial is the confirmation that the existing, lower-band network resources can further utilize 3.5 GHz as addition to the legacy network.

"This TDD trial also demonstrated that the 3.5GHz spectrum provides a good solution for MBB end user performance improvements and capacity expansion, which can satisfy future consumer needs.Ericsson is eager to support China Mobile on the trials in the future and jointly push for the TDD industry eco-system development," says Micael Narup, Head of Radio Product Management, Ericsson.

The successful testing results re-confirm that the TDD access scheme is a promising solution for the 3.5 GHz band to provide mobile operators with the capability for advanced services and applications. 3.5 GHz coverage can also be improved with carrier aggregation of lower frequency bands. The maturity of the 3.5 GHz LTE-Advanced TDD ecosystem can address the need for increases in spectrum and promote the development of mobile broadband.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About China MobileChina Mobile Limited (the "Company", and together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") was incorporated in Hong Kong on 3 September 1997. The Company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("HKEx" or the "Stock Exchange") on 22 October 1997 and 23 October 1997, respectively. The Company was admitted as a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong on 27 January 1998.

As the leading mobile services provider in Mainland China, the Group boasts the world's largest mobile network and the world's largest mobile customer base. The Company has been listed in Fortune Global 500 list for 14 consecutive years, ranking the 55th in 2014 and the 15th in BRANDZ 2014 ranking. The Company currently has a corporate credit rating of Aa3/Outlook Stable from Moody's Investor Service and AA-/Outlook Stable from Standard & Poor's, equivalent to China's sovereign credit rating, respectively.

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